I just received 2 reviews both had lots of untrue statements. One also was threatening.
How do you bounce back after a bad review?
The most professional way I’ve seen that dealt with this.
If you have other positive reviews, say please see my other reviews.
If you have concrete examples of what they said is untrue I would state these elements are untrue.
I would end with saying thank you for this constructive criticism, I will take to heart and try to do better in the future.
I think the worst you can do is cause more drama. HO and Sitters alike look for “drama” and that is truly the nail. So be respectful, truthful and sincere.
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@Joycelyn8 there is no place for a “threatening” review on THS.
All reviews and feedback should be honest and factual and not personal attacks.
You have the option to reply to the review ,so future HOs can see your comment when they read the review -this reply should also be kept factual and not personal about the HO.
You can ask member support to look at the threatening review and if they agree that it is threatening they can remove it .
On balance if you have lots of other great reviews, most HOs can spot that the issue must be with the HO and not the sitter.
Did the two reviews mention a similar “negative” issue , if so it may be good to self examine and see if there is some merit in what HOs have said . Every sit is a learning experience, even for sitters who have been doing this for a long time.
If you don’t have other reviews other than these two negative ones, then your best chance of getting future sits is to start by applying for last minute and local sits. ( Check the reviews that they have given to previous sitters , do they seem fair )or by applying to sit for a HO who is new to THS.
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What I will do now is to start a travel blog. And in my feedback and response I will give a URL to a post about that sit, with photos and text. So that the HO won’t have the last word.
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There was a sitter who did that, and honestly, their OTT response made them look a lot worse than the review did. Some of their “proof” even supported the HO, whereas from just the review I’d assumed the HOs were being dramatic.
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At least one can always edit one’s own travel blog. And tone it down, and cut down the text, so that it is not over-the-top.
I think it could also restrain the HO a bit, to know that they would not have the last word.
I doubt anyone who goes to all that trouble is going to tone it down, any more than the member who got feedback on the forum about their response was.
It’s more likely to result in “good” HOs not selecting that sitter, or in the big picture, leaving THS altogether if that were to catch on and become a thing.
I’d feel the same about an HO who posted similarly about their sitters.
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The review system is deeply flawed. There is no denying that a bad review can influence pet parents, but if you have lots of good ones, it will be buried. A response that reads as vengeful or even angry can make things considerably worse. “Drama” as others have said. No response is not agreement. Factual response that isn’t about “winnning” or “having the last word” but also takes some responsibility might help.
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If a review is truly threatening, I would absolutely report it.
As it’s not possible to respond to a review, you can also write a brief passage in your profile that concisely mentions concerns you have with feedback you’ve been given and then just let potential HO’s know you’d be open to providing additional context if in consideration for a sit and ask them to please review your full body of feedback for holistic perspective.
I think it is possible, both for reviews and feedback.
It is just difficult to find. Sitters need to go to “Past sits” and read the review there. Then at the bottom there is a button for a response.
Yea, @Carla just responded to me on a diff thread and apparently, the new review system will definitely allow a one-off response if you feel the need to. 
You can respond to reviews & feedback now @bakindoki on the current system. Button at bottom as @pietkuip mentioned 
It hasnt happened to me yet but I’d reply to the review expressing regret that the sit didn’t go as well as they had hoped/expected. If there were mitigating factors (e.g. the house wasnt clean but the HO had unexpectedly turned up hours early) I’d probably mention that but say that I would learn from the experience.
Oh yeah, I’d also try to get another sit in asap, maybe a local one just so those bad revieed weren’t sat at the top.
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You can respond to each and every review.
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Jocelyn, I will tell you how I recover in about two months after getting a damaging review. It was clearly retaliatory and thank goodness I had two new house sitters lined up before the review came out. After seven years as a HO I thought I had a great interview system but I was tested with this last sitter. Thankfully, these two upcoming sitters have been very understanding. Most everyone has had a very bad experience, unfortunately.
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What do people expect? If you’re a Home Owner youre getting a free sitter, if you’re a Sitter youre getting a free house to stay in with a small anount of work. Either way members should be happy with the unique service of THS. (My friend pays £500 a week for someone to look after her dogs!) I’m so sorry to hear you got negative reviews, very unfair.
I got a bad and unfair review in August. It took a while to get over it. Today I spoke to a pet owner about another sit. She said that she had read my great reviews and also the one bad one, and thought that the person who wrote the bad review sounded unhinged! It was really nice to hear that. I think most people will be prepared to overlook a bad review if there are lots of good ones on the profile too.
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Just read your profile and yes…based on how your other sits went, etc. that last seems really out of place and character.
It’s also strange to me when someone writes a review and that is the first time you get any real feedback from them. That type of approach comes across incredibly passive aggressive to me.
Really glad you’ve now got two more sits lined up and we’re able to respond back with your perspective. X
Not out of character maybe.
Did you see this sitter’s character assassination of Jim?
Edited for clarity.